Thursday, June 04, 2009

Pickoff Moves

Casey Janssen, who annihilated the Angels in his third and fifth major league appearances, took the mound yesterday for the Jays. He's been on a roller coaster ride since then, with horrible ERAs and good; he finished 2006 with a 5.07 ERA as the league caught up to him, and a 2.35 ERA the next year. This year, he's had two bad starts including this one, and the Angels chased him after four.

Non-news (almost!): Jered Weaver turned in another gem, a career-high 10-strikeout game. What a shining season he's having; he attributes at least part of his newfound success to a slightly different grip on his slider that gives it improved break:

"I just think the slider is a lot sharper," said Weaver. "I've been trying to mess around with a couple different grips over the last few years. Me and [pitching coach Mike Butcher] worked on one in Spring Training and it's come around. I've got a good grasp on where to put it and where to locate it. I think that's been the thing that's working for me.

"You're not really trying to go out there and strike people out. But when they come, they come. It's always nice to get them. It's nice to be able to get double-digits finally."

Bringing Down The Hammer: Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks 0

Another taut pitcher's duel that had points of brending-not-breaking for both starters, the Dodgers broke through in the eighth on a rare Casey Blake sac fly; the Dodgers brought in Jonathan Broxton to nail down the save, and I swear to you he's beginning to make me think of a certain former Québécois who used to work the ninth for the Blue. Brox's last pitch to pinch-hitter Ryan Roberts was a 100-MPH, hit-me-if-you-can heater; he couldn't. Mang.

Unsourced Rumor Links Angels To Padilla

As for Padilla, there’s word from the West Coast that the Angels have already spoken to Padilla’s agent to discuss a possible deal, and the White Sox have inquired as well. However according to an NL East scout, the Mets had a front office official watch Padilla’s start against the Yankees on Tuesday night, and “liked what he saw”.